The present invention relates to interactive terminals, and more particularly to interactive computer terminals which are completely portable or capable of being hand-held and operated.
Most computer terminals known in the art require a fixed position and a specific location. Generally, they are at least as large as a suitcase, and certainly not capable of being portable or hand-held. Such a cumbersome arrangement prevents flexibility in position and requires placement of the computer terminal in a location which is convenient to its operation.
The typical present-day teletype transmits a serial code as each key of the teletypewriter is depressed. This code thus represents a particular ASCII character that may be numeric, alphabetic, punctuation, or control. Similarly, when a code is received, it is immediately printed on paper and represents the particular ASCII character transmitted by the external device. Most present-day teletypewriter operate in a full-duplex mode; that is, only information received is placed on the readout paper, and a record of information transmitted is obtained via an echo system from the interconnected device which transmits the received informationn from the teletype back to the teletype. Some teletypewriter utilize a half-duplex mode wherein transmitted data is also printed on the readout paper as the information is being transmitted.
The present invention performs all the functions of a standard teletypewriter including the generation of a full 128-character ASCII format plus "break." However, since the present invention is hand-held, it may be used in many areas where a standard teletypewriter is impossible to use due to its size and weight. Furthermore, the present invention may intercommunicate with an acoustic coupler which in turn communicates with an external device such as a computer so as to allow an operator to communicate with a computer wherever a telephone is available.
Although other teletypewriter terminals are presently available that allow an operator to view and vary a message before it is transmitted or even allow the operator to perform some actual computation before the information is transmitted to the computer, none of these so-called "smart" or "intelligent" teletype terminals are portable.
It is therefore apparent that the present invention adds a new dimension to computer communication by allowing the operator of the present invention to communicate to computers from practically any location.
The applications of such a hand-held interactive computer terminal are innumerable and include such applications as: allowing a physician at his office to monitor a hospitalized patient's vital signs and acting upon this displayed information to transmit a laboratory order for immediate execution; allowing a salesman to communicate with his home office computer regarding the present inventory of a particular product; and allowing a real estate broker at a prospective customer's office to run through a computer generated list of available commercial properties. It is thus apparent that these are but a few of the types of applications possible with the present hand-held interactive computer terminal.